Sleeping fully clothed during the worst storm of our liveaboard lives

Waves crashing onto the Promenade at Maryport in Cumbria, UK

Much of the UK was battered by two named storms over the New Year period, both of which coincided with high tides.

And we experienced plenty of wild weather action from Storm Dylan and Storm Eleanor here at Maryport in Cumbria.

They were definitely two of the bumpiest nights we’ve had since we moved on-board our 43ft seagoing cruiser Ravensdale 14 months ago yesterday (Thursday).

Storm Dylan arrived in Maryport in the early hours of New Year’s Eve and continued until early afternoon.

The boat was rocking dramatically as we were blasted by strong winds, which were accompanied by torrential rain.

The highest wind speed here was 39mph, gusting to 56mph at around 6am.

That night was fairly bumpy on-board, but didn’t rate as our roughest yet as the tail end of ex-hurricane Ophelia back in October of last year was definitely worse.

The rain had stopped the following morning, but it was still very windy so we took a walk over to Maryport Promenade because we could see the waves crashing against the sea wall from our aft deck.

They were fairly impressive, but not as high as I’d hoped, but then the high tide was only 8.1m.

One of the more impressive waves whipped up at Maryport by Storm Dylan

Storm Eleanor, which arrived on Tuesday evening and lasted through much of the day on Wednesday, was much more dramatic as the high tides were so much higher.

The high tide at 23:45 on Tuesday in Maryport was 9m and it reached 9.1m at 12:07 the following day.

The highest wind speed recorded in this area was 47mph at midnight and the highest gust was 66mph at 2am.

The wind really started to get up at around 9pm.

Our Neptunus 133 was being thrown around and rocking wildly causing the ropes to creak and Ravensdale to slam up against the fenders alongside the pontoon.

The water was making loud sloshing noises as it slapped against the hull and the guardrail on the boat started knocking against the handrail on our metal steps on the pontoon. There's usually a gap of 12-18ins between the two rails, but the pontoon and boat sometimes rocked in opposite directions during the storm causing them to clash.

We heard a loud banging noise coming from the aft deck and looked out to see that part of our TV aerial had come loose and was swinging by the cable. Phil went out in the howling gale and strapped it to the radar arch with a bungee until he could get outside to fix it properly.

Our mangled aerial strapped down to stop it blowing away

Our sliding door then started to rattle so we wedged lumps of cardboard into it to hold it steady.

The boat was rolling as if out in a fairly rough sea and things started to be thrown around inside so we strapped down the freezer and the microwave.

Unfortunately, before we could move everything that was at risk, our little fibre optic Christmas tree that was sitting on top of the freezer went flying and crashed to the floor.

The trawler outside the marina seen from inside at high tide

The wind peaked around midnight at about the time of the high tide, which we could see was considerably higher than it should have been, presumably due to a storm surge.

The water in the marina was only about 18ins below the top of the dock with waves on the surface bringing it even closer to the top and sea spray could be seen flying over the top of the coastal path and raised sea wall that separates the marina basin from the beach.

Even in the darkness, we could see that the former trawler used as a liveaboard, which is moored in the basin outside the marina gates, looked as though it was level with us.

The boats in the marina were rocking around madly, the masts of two sail boats close to us struck each other a number of times causing them to become tangled and the noise caused by the wind howling through the rigging was louder than we had ever heard before.

The tangled masts the following morning

We didn’t even consider going to bed until about 1am, but decided to give in at that stage as we knew the wind wasn’t going to ease up anytime soon.

And we decided to sleep fully clothed in case we needed to get out in a hurry for any reason.

Phil converted the dinette into a bed so he could be closer to the saloon and more aware of what was going on outside.

Normally, the boat rocking helps me get off to sleep, but this time was different.

The rocking was too severe and the noise of the storm was difficult to ignore, but I must have eventually nodded off because the next thing I knew was when Phil joined me in our bed at around 3.30am because the wind had quietened down a bit.

It was still extremely windy when we got up on Wednesday morning.

Phil rebuilding our TV aerial

Phil went out to check the boat to see if she'd sustained any damage other than the TV aerial, which we were convinced was going to be useless and in need of replacement.

There was no other damage at all and he discovered that the aerial had simply pulled out of its clamp. He replaced it and amazingly the TV still worked perfectly.

So the only casualty of Storm Eleanor as far as we were concerned was our little Christmas tree, which could hardly be classed as essential boating equipment J

The marina staff were out checking the boats and pontoons first thing and discovered some of the cleats had worked loose. The only damage to boats were the two yachts whose masts had become joined together near us.

Marina staff checking the boats and pontoons after the storm

The roof was blown off the marina bike shed

One of the marina staff holding down the roof of the bike shed while it was being fixed

The roof of the marina’s bike hut had blown off and was stood upright against the fence behind it. Staff carried out a temporary fix and it blew off again on Wednesday evening so had to be mended again yesterday.

We decided to have breakfast at The Aquarium by Maryport Harbour the morning after our dramatic night aboard.

We then went around to the Promenade at high tide to photograph the waves that were so much bigger and more impressive than those generated by Storm Dylan. We also visited the pier and shore to see the effects of the storm.

A huge wave eclipses Maryport

Me photographing the rough sea on Maryport Promenade

A giant wave crashes onto the Promenade

Phil taking photographs on the Promenade

A powerful wave rolls onto the shore at Maryport

Debris on the Promenade and another wave is blown across the walkway

A towering wave spins its way along the Promenade

Storm debris on Maryport pier

The storms rather overshadowed the start of 2018 for us, but it was good to see in the New Year on-board again.

I couldn’t help thinking what a difference a year makes – or in our case maybe not J

This time last year, we were wondering where we’d be and what we’d be doing this New Year - http://fromahousetoaboat.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-new-year-brings-new-challenges-for.html

Well, now we know.

We’re still here in Maryport, albeit in a different mooring about 100 yards from the first one, and still enjoying every minute of it – or at least almost every minute of it J

And I’m already wondering where we'll be and what we’ll be doing next New Year.

Meanwhile, we took down our Christmas decorations yesterday, a couple of days earlier than planned because some of the fairy lights had come down when the aerial came loose during the storm.

Phil taking down the fairy lights on Ravensdale's aft deck

Phil sorting out the fairy lights on the pontoon

Phil cut the many cable ties holding the fairy lights on the outside of Ravensdale and rolled them up while I took down the interior decorations to go away until next year – all except the Christmas tree, which ended up in one of the marina’s bins.

I was sad to see them go, especially the colourful, flashing lights all over the outside of Ravensdale as they always made me smile and I know others enjoyed them too. In fact, another berth holder told me he thought we should leave them up all year as they brightened up the marina.

It only remains for me to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Here's to 2018!